U.S. Embassy, Innovation, and Collaboration

Yesterday morning I had the opportunity to visit the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, Finland.  It was very interesting to see and hear what they had to say.  I guess the only things that I have ever known about embassies have been from movies.... It's a place to go if you feel threatened in another country and that they work as diplomats in discussions between the US and other countries.

I did have some takeaways from the presentations that they gave.  One program that the embassy is associated with is called ARC (American Resource Center) which helps teach American culture, history, and customs. "The American Resource Center seeks to further the understanding of America and its institutions. It specializes in providing the latest and most accurate information about the U.S. government and its policies, American values, history, culture and character."  They have some great databases and curated items available to the public.  Their elibrary is a great way to get access to great resources no matter what your study.

After the visit to the embassy, we returned to the University of Helsinki for some more collaborative work.  Professor Jari Lavonen spoke on assessment in Finnish schools. Teachers are trusted so no set assessments/standardized tests are given. There is a shift towards internal, teacher-conducted procedures like alternative and formative forms of assessment so that the aim is to improve learning.  I have always thought that formative assessments were more valuable than some of the summatives.  Formatives allowed me to look at where the students are currently at right away and determine if interventions are needed while the content is fresh.  It's difficult to go back at the end of a unit, after a final quiz, to focus on an area that the child is still struggling in.

The last half of the afternoon focused on tools to promote innovation.  We did activities with manipulatives, robotics, and ones that forced us to work collaboratively and think critically.  Critical thinking is an area of focus I feel sometimes is lacking in my buildings.  The children are not really given a chance to learn by solving problems.  Too often they just look to the teacher to have them give them the answer because they don't know how to problem-solve.  Integrating critical thinking in our classrooms is not an add-on but rather a mind shift.  Critical thinking and problem-solving is something students will come across in the work force so as educators it is our job to prepare them.

One of my favorite parts of the day was when I had the moment of down time and was able to talk to a few classrooms back at my school in Janesville.  It was fun answering the questions about Finland and discussing my work here.  The kids were fascinated and excited to talk with me.  I was able to share pictures to show them the similarities and differences between our schools and our cities.

I can't express enough just how amazing and valuable this experience has been.  I have so many great ideas that I can not wait to get back and implement.  The collaborative ties that I have already created is